


The Trial of Snow White

by zarabithia



Category: Disney Princesses Superheroes - kruegan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, F/F, F/M, Female Protagonist, Yuletide Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-24
Updated: 2010-12-24
Packaged: 2017-10-14 02:03:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/144133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zarabithia/pseuds/zarabithia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Council of Extraordinary Noblewomen for Justice must decide Snow White's fate after she becomes a vampire.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Trial of Snow White

**Author's Note:**

  * For [starlady](https://archiveofourown.org/users/starlady/gifts).



> This fandom for this story comes from [this picture of the Disney Princesses as Superheroes.](http://i1081.photobucket.com/albums/j355/secretaccountforyuletide/superprincessgal-thumb-330x2070-46708.jpg)

On the day of Snow White's trial, Aurora woke in the same manner as she had every other morning since her sixteenth birthday. Over a decade later, her powers were easier for Aurora to control, so it did not take quite as much time to fully exit the dreamscape world, but she still needed to reach out and grasp the consciousness of her fairies in order to fully rejoin the waking world.

"Oh, very good, dear," Merryweather greeted enthusiastically. "You took two minutes less this morning than yesterday to join us!"

Aurora smiled at her wearyingly and slipped out of the bed. She didn't mention the empty bed beside her, or the prince who still couldn't stand the force of the dreams that her powers brought when lying nearby. Merryweather was kind enough not to mention the multiple occupants of his bedroom, two stories down.

Flora and Fauna were even kinder to distract her with worries of her costume. "Pink or blue today, Briar Rose?" Flora asked, because no matter how much time had passed since childhood, her fairies never stopped using her childhood nickname. It was a reassuring act, one that summoned memories of fun romps through the castle gardens and a nickname given to emphasize softer qualities while always reminding her of the potential of the sting her powers could cause.

Her fairies were wise; it was a pity no one could see them, other than Aurora herself. "I think I will go for the pink today, Flora," she responded. "And since I will be dealing with The Council exclusively today, let's go for the short skirt."

When she had a night full of dreams that included her estranged husband's sexual dalliances with his mistresses, she tended to greet the day with a need to show a little leg - to anyone who wasn't Phillip.

"Are you sure about that, my dear?" Fauna asked in concern. "You never know when one of the Council's adversaries might show up, and - "

"I'm sure that Aladdin, Shang, and the rest of our auxiliary members can handle it while we have the trial," Aurora said shortly, biting back the bulk of her temper, while still not managing to keep it entirely in check. "And please do make it quick. I'm already late."

"As you wish, Briar Rose," Fauna replied and with a quick tap of her wand, Aurora was dressed and ready to go.

She took the bagel that Merryweather offered, before leaving.

* * *

When Aurora arrived at the Council's headquarters, stationed this time of year in Belle's kingdom, she was greeted by Happy and Sleepy, the only two remaining dwarfs. They solemnly greeted her, and even without Belle's empathy powers, she could see the the toll of the past several weeks on their little faces.

She wanted to offer a word of comfort to them, but considering how at least half of her teammates felt about the Snow situation, Aurora knew any comforts she might offer would be a lie.

As she entered the meeting room, she was greeted with a sight quite familiar. As with most of their meetings, her teammates sat in a circle around the Council's meeting table. The same divide between those born to nobility and those who came to it later in life was plain to see in the seating arrangements, with Mulan, Belle and Tiana grouped together, while Ariel and Jasmine reserved a seat beside them for Aurora. While Cinderella's sympathies did lie with the former group, she took her role as chairwoman quite seriously, and insisted on sitting directly between the two groups.

Fairness in all things was Cinderella's defining trait; it's why they had elected her as chairwoman of the Council in the first place. Aurora hoped that fairness would set the tone for the day.

"Sorry I'm late," Aurora apologized, as she did most days, taking her seat.

"Hey, it's fine. It gave me time to put in the order for the crawfish for next week's menu," Tiana greeted. Tiana ignored the way Sebastian shuddered and slipped lower into his shell on the table in front of Ariel as Tiana slipped her cellphone into one of the pockets of her costume, carefully well covered with leafy patterns. Pockets - a sensible costume design that would have met Merryweather's approval, Aurora was sure.

"We are used to your powers by now," Ariel said agreeably, taking only a moment away from her attempts to cajole Raja into talking to her. Aurora was not the animal talker that Ariel was, but the tiger looked rather unimpressed and noncommutative. Despite the frustration that must have caused for someone who could talk to animals on a regular basis, Ariel never stopped trying. Maybe some day she would - she'd finally came around to giving up on Tiana's alligator friend, after all.

"But now that we're here, we can get started," Cinderella agreed. "Before you arrived, Aurora, Jasmine had indicated a desire to start the proceedings. Does anyone here have any objections?"

No objections were raised, and Belle scooted a little closer to Tiana. Aurora didn't blame Belle; she'd been in Tiana's head, and while the newest member of the Council had her moments of pain and loneliness, Tiana derived a lot of pleasure from carrying on her family's traditions. That determination to continue the path her parents had set for her was what made Tiana such a wonderful hero - along with the healing powers, of course.

In any event, Tiana's mind was a wonderful, refreshing place to wander through, and Aurora had enjoyed the few times she'd had permission to do so. Aurora had no doubt that in a room as full of tension as the meeting room currently was, Belle's empathy powers were clinging desperately to Tiana's brightness. Given the way that Tiana reached over and squeezed Belle's hand, it looked as though Tiana understood that, as well.

Sympathy would be as helpful today as fairness, in Aurora's view.

"I must begin by saying," Jasmine spoke, "that I don't understand why this trial is even necessary. What happened with Snow was not her fault."

"There are five dead dwarfs and one dead prince," Mulan answered. "Those six bite wounds would be why we are here."

"I'm not so sure we should worry that much about the prince," Ariel offered. "I mean, I think Snow is guilty and should pay the price, but that prince apparently has a thing for assaulting women while they sleep...if you know what I mean. Or so Eric tells me. He seemed pretty pissed when we had to go do our diplomatic duty in that prince's kingdom. Apparently all the other princes know about his ... activities."

Aurora tensed, automatically. Sleep was a time of great vulnerability; for anyone to attack during that point was utterly terrifying. She felt badly enough that she couldn't control the urge to wander uninvited through their consciousness during her own sleep. How anyone could justify an attack during such a time was beyond her.

Jasmine looked horrified, understandably. "Why wasn't he ever punished?"

"He's a prince," Sebastian muttered from under his shell. "They get away with everything."

"That would be reason enough," Belle agreed. "But we're losing track of the point of this meeting. We aren't here to judge the prince's faults, no matter how horrific. Even without him in the picture, she's responsible for five deaths."

"But it wasn't her fault," Tiana chimed in. "No one ever expects the apple they eat are going to be infected with vampire blood. Well...I guess everyone in this room is going to worry about that from now on, but..."

"She had no powers," Aurora added. "Expecting her to be able to detect a poisoned fruit is ridiculous."

Belle narrowed her eyes. "The dwarfs served us for five years and there's not a member of this Council that didn't love them like family. Should we just ignore the demand for justice because she wasn't quite bright enough to know better?"

"What a stunning display of empathy," Jasmine said in disgust.

"You can have empathy for someone, and still believe they need to be punished for their crimes," Belle insisted.

Jasmine crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "Please. This doesn't even have anything to do _Snow_ for you. The Beast is in jail, Belle. You won that battle and got his kingdom to boot. Let it go."

It was a harsh assessment, perhaps, but Aurora didn't doubt its truthfulness. Belle didn't often grant the option to walk through her consciousness, but the few times she did, Aurora had seen the bitterness that still surrounded the incident with Beast.

As she should, Aurora believed. The Stockholm Syndrome was a serious condition, and Aurora was certain that Belle would continue to live for some time with the ramifications of healing from her time under Beast's tyranny.

Still, no one liked being called on their bias, and Belle was no exception. She responded in a reasonable, if cruel manner. "And your argument is the pure one? Or maybe instead, it's quite obviously all about Aladdin."

"Ladies," Cinderella began, but she was interrupted by Jasmine.

"What if it was about Aladdin? If anything, my husband is proof that someone who commits a crime should not be held responsible for it for their entire lives."

"The type of crime matters," Mulan interjected, and Belle stopped glaring at Jasmine long enough to allow Mulan to speak. "Aladdin was a thief - "

"And not a particularly good one," Belle grumbled, causing Raja to growl in protest. "Well, I'm sorry! But if you need a monkey to help you steal things, maybe you aren't the best thief in the world."

"My point," Mulan continued, "is that yes, Aladdin committed crimes. So, technically, did I. The degree of Snow's crimes is different."

"And what of my crimes?" Aurora pointed out. "At the age of 16, I trapped my would-be husband in a mental maze of dragon slaying, where he died one hundred times over in his own mind. My acts were brought on by nothing more than my own inability to control my powers. Should I too be forced to pay for those crimes?"

On his worse days, Phillip certainly thought so. On her better days, Aurora didn't judge him for it.

"He lived," Belle answered. "And despite what you may think, he loves and forgives you for it. He's alive to give that type of forgiveness. The dwarfs are not."

"Then what do you judge should be an accurate punishment?" Jasmine demanded.

"Execution," Mulan said, as bluntly as any soldier would. That warrior spirit was also what enabled Mulan to single-handedly save the rest of the Council multiple times, even without any powers.

"So we should meet her acts of murder with a murder of our own?" Jasmine asked.

"If it is the only way to keep the innocents safe from her, then yes," Belle answered.

"But we don't know if that's the only way," Cinderella pointed out. "She claims that she has gotten the blood lust under control."

"So she claims," Mulan agreed. "We have no way of knowing whether or not she is telling the truth."

Jasmine turned to Aurora. "You know, don't you? Vampire minds aren't open to empaths like Belle, but your powers encompass the entirety of anyone's consciousness. You've been in her mind since the attacks. You have to know what she is capable of, and what she isn't."

Aurora folded her hands in front of her, acutely aware of her teammates' stares. "She has opened her mind to me twice, since the attack," Aurora stated. "Once, immediately after taking her into custody and once yesterday afternoon. Both times, she gave her mind freely and willingly, and both times I could read only remorse in her former actions and desire to make up for what she has done in the future. For what it's worth, she mourns the dwarfs as much as we do, possibly moreso."

"Don't take this the wrong way, Aurora," Ariel began, "but your grasp on reality is not always the strongest. You may have read what was in her subconscious and you may have read what was in your own. There's no way to tell for sure, is there?"

Aurora paused, wishing she could confirm either way. "It felt like her mind to me," she answered, "but you are right. I cannot be one hundred percent certain, nor can I deny that the blood lust is still there, because it is. The minute I filled her mind with images of blood, her hunger returned. It is a foreseeable danger."

"Then that settles it," Belle said firmly.

"No, it doesn't," Jasmine argued. "If we believe that Aurora's reality was valid when she saw Snow's hunger, then we have to believe that she also saw the truth when she saw Snow's remorse."

"Perhaps we should take a vote," Cinderella suggested.

"Yeah, some of us are never going to convince the others, but all Snow needs is a majority vote," Ariel agreed. "Um, a majority either way."

"Very well," Cinderella agreed. "We'll begin with Ariel and make our way around the table. Please state loudly and clearly for the record whether you believe Snow White should be found guilty or acquitted."

As they went around the table, the answers were exactly what Aurora had predicted. Mulan, Ariel and Belle voted guilty, while Tiana, Jasmine, and Aurora voted for acquittal.

"It looks like you get to cast the deciding vote, Cinderella," Belle said, unhappily. "Though, considering your dalliance with Snow before the incident, I would think you'd take the fair route and abstain from voting all together."

"Then we'd never end the trial," Ariel pointed out. "We need a tie breaker, Belle. No matter what Snow and Cindy were up to, I'm sure Cinderella can be fair about it."

All eyes turned towards Cinderella. As a shape shifter, Cinderella had perfect control over her body, and could remain perfectly still for hours at a time. It was unnerving at times, but Aurora found it oddly reassuring today, that Cinderella hadn't moved since the trial began. She'd simply been sitting and listening to the arguments as they presented themselves.

"The relationship between us is not a factor in my decision," Cinderella insisted. "As chairwoman of The Council of Extraordinary Noblewomen for Justice, I have to cast my vote in the most fair way possible, while still upholding our guiding two principles."

"Protecting the innocent and providing an example for others," Mulan chimed.

"And at heart, that's what's at stake today," Cinderella continued. "We may have failed at protecting the dwarfs, but what example do we set forth for the rest of the world? Do we set forward an example of vengeance or an example of forgiveness?"

Cinderella did move then, and for a brief moment, she maintained eye contact with each one of them. Belle lowered her head, looking uncertain of her own zealousness momentarily.

"I think," Cinderella continued, "that we have a responsibility to show leniency. If we do not show kindness towards those that have done wrong to us, how can we ever expect our villains to?"

It was a simple argument, and disagreement could still be seen in the body language of three of their members. But their discontent didn't matter, because four votes were all Snow White needed that day.

As for whether or not it would turn out to be the right vote - that was a decision to be made another day.


End file.
